Experience All You Can

In this episode of The Growing Our Future podcast, host Aaron Alejandro interviews Andrew Christensen, Senior Managing Director at Ascendion. Andrew shares his journey, starting from his passion for veterinary science in high school to his current leadership role. He emphasizes the importance of trying out different activities, networking, and building relationships. Despite growing up in a city, Andrew found his path through FFA, which offered him unique opportunities and a diverse network. He encourages listeners to embrace opportunities, be prepared, and prioritize relationships to achieve success.

Story Notes:

• Exploration and Inquisitiveness
• Reflections on Core Values
• Insights for High School Students
• Building Relationships
• Vulnerability and Growth
• Opportunities in Unexpected Places

Learn more at MyTexasFFA.org

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:02

Welcome to the Growing Our Future podcast. In this show, the Texas FFA Foundation will take on a journey of exploration into agricultural science, education, leadership development and insights from subject matter experts and sponsors who provide the fuel to make dreams come true. Here's your host, Erin Alejandro.

Speaker 2: 0:30

Well, good morning, good afternoon, good evening or whenever you may be tuning in to the Growing Our Future podcast. You know we just enjoy bringing this platform to you, this opportunity to hear from subject matter experts. I like it because I get to bring folks that I've known for a while on and let them share with you the things that they've put in place in their lives that have helped them accomplish great things, and today is no different. I am excited for today. I cannot wait for y'all to meet this man. I still want to call him young man because I remember when he was in high school, but I'm excited that he's here. I'm so very proud of the career that he's accomplishing and we're going to talk a little bit about that. And today, Andrew Christensen, who is the senior managing director at Ascendion. Andrew, thank you for joining us today.

Speaker 2: 1:21

Thanks for having me here, erin, are you ready to jump into this interview and let us just quiz and learn everything we can about the journey and life experiences of Andy Christensen. I'm excited for it. Appreciate the opportunity. We're excited to have you here, by the way. Okay, so just so you know, every podcast starts out and every guest gets the same first question, and that question is this Andy, what are you grateful for today?

Speaker 3: 1:54

That's a great question I think you know, at the end of the day, we need to make sure we're grateful for a lot of things. There's one thing I'm always grateful for I have an absolute tremendous family. My wife has been with me through thick and thin incredible daughter, two dogs as well so incredibly grateful for them and all the opportunities they've afforded me. And you know additions that I'm thankful that the sun rose again today.

Speaker 3: 2:20

It's something to where we see all the bad news happening all around, and there's been a lot in Dallas recently as well, all across the world In regards to what's happening from there. Every single day the sun comes up. It might be raining in some places, that's fine, but I'm grateful for the Mondays. I'm grateful for a fresh start. I was up from 12 to 1.30 this morning with my child. She's a little sick right now and I'm sad for that, but I'm thankful for the opportunity to continue to be a great father and just having the chance to grow, and I think that's just such an incredible thing where I'm excited to wake up every single day for that fact and be surrounded by such great friends and family with that.

Speaker 2: 3:04

I couldn't agree with you more by the way.

Speaker 2: 3:08

And I love the way that you couch that If we're not careful, it's real easy to look around and get negative. There's a lot of negativity in the news or some negativity on social media, and if you're not careful, you forget to look at some of the little things. The little things that really make you appreciate where we're at the fact that we have jobs, the fact that we have some amenities that make life easier for us, and the freedom and the liberty and the fact that we have a family that we get to pour into. There's a lot of things there to be grateful for. So I appreciate that. I couldn't agree with you more. So, all right, mr Christensen, some of us again had a front row seat to your career and that's really been a joy for guys like me to get to see you excel and other young people excel. So you're now senior managing director of a technology company. Is that fair to say? It's a technology company?

Speaker 1: 4:12

Yes.

Speaker 2: 4:12

Okay, so a senior managing director, that's a pretty impressive title and something tells me you didn't just fall into that seat. Someone tells me that there was a journey that took place that got you there. So if you would take us back, take us back to high school and how you navigated out of high school and to college and how you found yourself on this career path that led you to the senior managing director role.

Speaker 3: 4:42

Absolutely, I love to do that. So from a high school perspective, you know, going into I want to be a veteran. I was just all I really wanted to do and when I was young I liked stuffed animals. So, as any parent would say it, so you like stuffed animals, you're young, so you're going to be a doctor, right? So that was me. That was the only thing I really focused on. I didn't actually have any training towards that, you know, up until high school. So with that, that's why I wanted to pursue my first animal science course and really start down that journey in terms of forwarding my education.

Speaker 3: 5:15

With that in the class I remember it was competition. So if you could pronounce and say up the entire creed, the FFA creed by Ian Tiffany, you basically got a free test score and I was like, hey, we'll allow you to kind of do this and I was so excited for it. And there was someone else who I was actually competing against, so I originally wasn't even going to join the Texas FFA and he was very excited for it and I said, okay, well, I want to win. It's very competitive back and forth with him and I never really memorized the speech before. You know quite a few paragraphs, quite a few words in there, and you had to recite it in front of the entire class.

Speaker 3: 5:54

So I remember taking a lot of my time really focusing towards that and through it, learning more about what the words meant, learning more about the overall background and with that, as soon as I did grades hey, I think you're a very passionate individual my ag teacher at the time so I'd love to introduce you into the Texas FFA program. You want to be veterinarian down the road. So these are the types of opportunities we have with that. So I started my first projects where I was raising rabbits. I had no idea what was going on, basically had some rabbits in the backyard, got some feed from a feed store. I grew up in the city and the rabbits would just run around the backyard with my dogs chase them and didn't place very well in that. But really started to enjoy the different speaking engagements, the travel opportunities. I didn't do a lot of that through my career before I say career middle school and all of that. It was again from a city standpoint. I played sports but really didn't travel at all. So the FFA and those courses really allowed me opportunity to see the world from an outside perspective, what was actually happening every single day. It's not just a normal science, a math class, computer, anything else like that I was already heavily in grain so it really gave me from a new lens what was happening. I had never experienced that side of life, so going through that took a lot of additional animal science courses.

Speaker 3: 7:17

When it became the present of my local FFA chapter, I remember you coming down doing a lot of speaking engagements and it was just so incredible, kind of watching someone from such a prestigious area come by and speak to us when we're in high school, the amount of passion that comes through that and even from a speaking sample. I remember you coming and I think I gave you maybe two seconds, three seconds a repair and you came and just did a wonderful 45 minutes speech. You asked me two or three questions how long does it need to be? I said around 30, 40 minutes, like right, I said, do you want me to inspire? Do you want me to say a funny joke? And I was like yes, it's really, it's really inspirational. And I remember those conversations and just back and forth and the frogs getting kind of stuck in the boiling pot. I'm not going to tell you too many stories from you all, but it really took a lot of those to heart in terms of how I want to raise my kids and how I just see myself growing throughout with that.

Speaker 3: 8:14

So, through those times, still continue sports but also realize there's something do I want to go more towards the baseball side and I was like I'm a time commitment. I love what I'm doing with the Texas FFA, every single minute from it and the additional curricular activities I was doing, the summer activities. Again, I had never really traveled. I was going all across the state from a national convention standpoint. That was the first times I've actually traveled outside of Texas and it's a brand new world for me. So that was really inspirational going through there. And so once you do again more of the veterinary medicine type path.

Speaker 3: 8:49

So applied to A&M, got in, got a ton of scholarships from the work that I had done from the FFA. I told them what are you involved in? And a big thing they always ask is volunteer activities. So my senior year, I believe, was over 2,000 hours of volunteer activities I have, and a lot of that was related to my animal science endeavors, volunteering at a local clinic from a veterinary medicine standpoint, and that was afforded through the classes I had at Fairbrook High School and those were my animal science courses that allowed me to continue to stay within the FFA.

Speaker 3: 9:23

So going to college very excited also in the first time, being alone. So transition was a little bit unique. Kind of through that time was saying that I love what I do. But also I was worried. Now, thinking is I'm going to be growing and I'm having my own family and that type of setting where I was focused. I was going to be in a clinic almost the entire time. I just seen how much of life there was all around and I was worried that when I grow my family, when I have all of this, what if I'm going to be stuck in a very confined setting? So I love talking to people and that's something I learned through the Texas FFA program and just the overall amount of networking you can do and what that brings to an individual, the unique types of opportunities which I had no idea ever existed. I was told it was going to be a veterinarian because I like stuffed animals and all of a sudden you go to the Texas FFA. You see over 10,000 people there and just the state convention, the ambassador program, all the opportunities there. There are thousands of people who are extremely successful within animal science in three unique ways and just who want to give back to the program even if they're no longer actively in a role which is based from agriculture. It was inspiring.

Speaker 3: 10:39

So I was looking for new ways to do it and the clock kind of ran out on me. So I graduated with biomedical science at a minor business. I didn't really know what I wanted to do, but I know who I wanted to be with. So Molly Dutton, now Molly Christensen. I met her through the Texas FFA and that was the Foundation Ambassador Program where we were working together with a group of kids and really teaching them the opportunities of networking and working with our partners directly and what that means and the types of opportunities that the Texas FFA can afford you outside of just having a classroom type setting. So she graduated a little before me, she's a lot smarter than I am and she decided to move to Dallas.

Speaker 3: 11:24

So I said well, whatever I do, I got to end up in Dallas. I started applying to every single job out there and I said it really doesn't matter. I just that is my North Star and that's where I want to be. So took the first job offer I got. It was a 17 minute phone interview. It was supposed to be setting up an interview for me and in reality I just I talked through all the things I had learned on hey, I did the research about your company and I've seen how you've grown in all these different areas. Those are things that I learned from a networking standpoint within the Texas FFA and why do we speak to people and the type of respect we need to give people at all levels and the passion that we need to have. If you're not passionate, what is there in life If you're not grateful that the sun's rising every single day? So I was able to show that passion and move to Dallas shortly thereafter.

Speaker 3: 12:18

So that was then a medical staffing type opportunity, did that for around 11 months and luckily my wife girlfriend at the time was still with me. I could continue that and want to pursue something a little different, more towards technology. You know, seeing all these opportunities and just from that small area, I was pinching and pulling myself again from the medical staffing to where I had to be within a hospital to really be successful and I want to spend every single day with people networking and doing all of that. So I had an opportunity that was called Collabros, so with that say Global IT Staffing Company. So I started with them from the very bottom as IT recruiter A very unique type of style, but I knew I had the passion and I wanted to be successful.

Speaker 3: 13:06

And so, with that, making 150 calls every single day. I used to go in and I remember people leaving at 3 and 4 o'clock and I remember the account managers who I was supporting at that time. They had a wonderful life. They could come and go as they pleased, back and forth, and I remember seeing some of them. I was why aren't they staying till 5? Why aren't they staying till 6? Why aren't they waking up at 5 o'clock to be more successful?

Speaker 1: 13:32

To get more of that competitiveness than me.

Speaker 3: 13:34

I said I want to do more and I think I can only do so much in an individual role. What if I'm supporting multiple people? I can then branch out and help people from that area. So went to more of the account manager type aspect and again, right with the Texas FFA, we were given an opportunity to network with VP. C-level executives were finding out from a business standpoint what is their overall problem. Hello, from the networking area where I tell them I was from Texas A&M and let me tell you about ag and all of that and found a lot of people through that way as well. There are now great connections of mine, so continuing that path.

Speaker 3: 14:13

Currently, with Ascendian, I want to go more from a leadership perspective, so I'm overseeing quite a few people now. We're a digital solutions company focusing in data, ai, cloud, quality engineering a lot of really heavy things I didn't learn in college. At the end of the day, what I focus on is relationship aspect. What can I bring to the table? I've talked to a lot of my clients and they've been with me for five or six years, regardless of where they go, the type of industry, the support. They know that I'm a reliable person that they can call me at 4 am in the morning.

Speaker 3: 14:53

I remember people call me. They were supporting a night shift and they used to call me at 2, 3 in the morning. That was crazy. My wife at the time is still in disbelief of how can you even hear the phone at that time. You're absolutely passed out. But being reliable is a really important aspect and just having that respect as well. So, regardless, I didn't have the IT background. It was those core principles that I learned. How do you have the respect, how do you have the resiliency, how do you have the reliability? And from that, that's why I greatly still enjoy what I do. I love helping out from technology standpoints. We're helping all types of industries but, to answer your question, that's how I initially got started. From the Texas FFA standpoint in high school I created throughout my journey and my current position as a senior managing director at Ascendio Wow.

Speaker 2: 15:48

That was really good.

Speaker 3: 15:50

I was a good director along the way, I had a kid.

Speaker 2: 15:52

You know all of that, so he did by the way, he had Molly they had the cutest little girl, by the way it just the pictures that they post all the time. I keep up with them and it just makes me proud. Okay, back to this podcast here for so good, I could get off track here and talk about y'all. One of the things that I like when people share their testimonies is if you listen and I tell people all the time, listening is not just with your ears, it's also with your eyes. You got to pay attention because you might miss a trend, you might miss an opportunity. You got to learn to pay attention. When I listened to Andy share his story, there's a lot of things there that I hope people can unpack. Okay, number one he was very inquisitive. He had a drive to ask questions. By the way, think it this way what is the root word of the word question? The root word is quest to go on an adventure. So I think we're wise to ask questions. I think we're wise to say what if? But also listen to what you said and I wrote some of the things down.

Speaker 2: 17:00

You talked a lot about core values. You talked a lot about passion and I believe that I believe there's a lot of people that, unfortunately, they go through life as a placeholder and they just kind of hold a place when there's so much more, if they just be willing to be inquisitive, build relationships, network a little bit, have a little passion. I love the fact that you said that. I love the fact that you talked about being prepared. When I listen to you talk about these job opportunities, I just appreciated when you said I studied these companies, I wanted to know more about them. What was their mission, what was their structure. I mean that inquisitiveness gave you a competitive edge. We're on talk about competitive edge here in a second. And then also, lastly, I love the fact that you talk about relationships, because we were not designed to be the lone rangers. We were not designed that way. We were designed to be in relationships with people, and I believe that people and you're an example of this, by the way I believe that people with large networks tend to be more successful, and the reason why is because they can spot an opportunity quicker. They can probably solve a problem quicker because they're not having to fumble around. Who do I know? I already know somebody. I know who I'm gonna call, I'm gonna reach out to them and whether it's through FFA, whether it was through sports, whether it's through the Aggie Network or you know, like the Red Raider Network, it doesn't matter which network. It is right, it's, the end of the day, it's. Can I call on somebody that I know to help me figure something out or help me capitalize on an opportunity? So when I listened to your story, all of those things became very evident that they were stepping stones to the accomplishments that you have today, absolutely.

Speaker 2: 18:58

I also believe that you know, like you said, having a family provides another opportunity for you. And you know, I've told my kids, I've told my kids this and I'll tell you this. I think I did tell you this. There are things in life I call life moments. There are moments that only life can give you. People can tell you about it all day long, but until you experience it you don't really get it. And so I told my kids, I said I'm gonna tell you something the day that you hold your child in your arms for the first time.

Speaker 2: 19:32

At that moment there's gonna be a lot of stuff. I told you that's gonna make sense, but it won't make sense until that moment. And all of a sudden you look down that little girl's face and I guarantee you there were things that your parents told you over the years that at that moment it meant something to you, because it was a life moment and that helped make you into the man, the father, the husband, the dad that you are today. The other one is just to give you a heads up because one day this one's coming your way. I'd always heard people talking about grandparents and you know I'm like, oh no, here we go. Another grandchild story. Oh no, here we go. But God gave me another life moment because the day that I saw my son holding his son and loving on his son, that's a life moment. You got that one coming, so you get ready for that, because you and Molly and y'all are gonna remember and enjoy that it's coming.

Speaker 3: 20:26

Okay so I think it's just, it's so unique. I remember again one of the things you had said when, when your priorities are clear, your choices are easy. So you're right just being able to have that life moment and hold her, regardless of all the noise that's happening around us. You see that this is now my priority, this is now why I'm doing the things I'm doing, and so all the other choices around and do I want to stay out? Do I want to make that extra call? Whatever it is, it's? You know what are the goals I have set forth to make sure I can achieve my priorities. So, having that goal mindset driven towards that life moment, I think just.

Speaker 2: 21:14

That's good, that's good, all right. Well, we're really kind of talking.

Speaker 3: 21:19

Don't worry.

Speaker 2: 21:20

Here's the thing. There's so much that we could talk about here, but as we, as we do, talk, you are kind of you're being a really good guest, by the way, because you're taking us right into our next topic and and that is this, and you've already kind of alluded to some of these, and and so we may we may revisit some of the things that you said, but you know, I think about it this way the state of Texas. I think there are over 3,000 high schools in the state of Texas. Every one of them is gonna have a senior class this year. Every one of them is gonna have a graduating class. That means that all these kids are gonna graduate. They're gonna be out looking for a job, a scholarship or an opportunity, and so I guess, at the end of the day, we have to ask ourselves what's our competitive edge, what separates us from everybody else? And so I think that the reason we want to do podcasts like this is because, you know, I believe that agriculture, if it's taught me anything, it's taught me. If you want to know what the future is, grow it.

Speaker 2: 22:17

Well, how do you grow something? You got to plant the right seeds, you got to take care of them, you got to nurture them. So, bringing you on and having guests like you, you get to share. Let me tell you what I did in high school that gave me a competitive edge when I graduated. Let me tell you what I did in college that gave me a competitive edge when I sought out a job in the marketplace. Let me tell you what I've done, what seeds I planted in my life. Now that I'm in a career that's improved my career standing. So what would you say if you were, if you were, talking to a high school, andy Christian? You went back and said okay, young man, let me tell you something. This is the old guy telling you here's what you ought to be doing. What would you tell him?

Speaker 3: 23:07

Great question. I think it's so difficult from a high school perspective because we're told immediately after high school we should immediately go into something. We need to know what we're gonna do as soon as we finish and there's so many different colleges out there public and private. There's so many different trades out there vocational items it's. It's incredible and I worry about them coming, because there's also so many different choices and we have thousands and thousands of choices, then sometimes you just kind of second guess yourself.

Speaker 3: 23:43

So, in terms of back then, I enjoyed what I did heavily because I was in a program that allowed me to experience as much as life as possible. So I would say, going back to that point, really just tell myself that it's so critical to try out almost every single type of activity you can and to learn things that you might not even have thought were possible before. We're gonna get our core skills in some of the main programs and everything. But in terms of FFA, there's so many different opportunities. I remember getting my national degree and going through and just seeing the different types of fields I could put in I didn't even know existed, wow, like all these different types of crops and animals and all that and speaking engagements, and I could have had a full-time job and putting that money away towards various SAEs and everything, and I even I didn't know. So I think it's just so critical to make sure you get out there and you know, like the movie yes man, I mean sometimes you just you should start saying yes to the different opportunities out there and see what it's really like.

Speaker 3: 24:54

I'd never really traveled overnight before. I didn't know what that meant. I was incredibly scared, for I didn't know who this group of people were. I was blindly going in. My parents said yes because I was so excited about it. If I would have seemed nervous then they would have been too and with that, just have trust. And again, the ag teacher as well. They've been around, they know what life is about and they know the opportunities that ag can afford people. I think those are some of the greatest things that I went through. Again, a ton of travel. I would have never had the opportunity.

Speaker 3: 25:29

And to everyone else that they have that type of opportunity through ag it's not just that you have to raise an animal, you have to do a speaking event or you have to be a leader of your local chapter. There are leaders within every single type of position. There are so many different vocational activities you can do within ag that supported anything that's growing our future. It's to really be a part of that program and diversify yourself. It's just so absolutely critical Making sure that you have that particular mindset. Again, coming from a city, I just didn't know that type of life existed. So being able to experience it, learning what it truly meant by being responsible, I don't think any of the program can teach you. The FFA can.

Speaker 2: 26:21

I agree with that. I agree with that completely. I think what I like about again with your story is your willingness to be vulnerable, to say you know what, I'm going to be prepared, but I'm really not sure about this, but I'm going to go try it. I'm willing to be vulnerable, that what if I get up and I don't say it right, and somebody laughs at me? Well, you're not going to get better unless you're willing to be a little bit vulnerable so that you can at least have that experience. I believe that success begets success.

Speaker 2: 26:57

There's another one that says you're a vibe attracts your tribe. So when you think about the kids that we associate with the young people in the FFA, as long as we're around, people that are positive, that are goal driven, that, like you said, they're traveling, they're experiencing things. The cuisine of a new town, the topography of driving to West Texas or the piney woods I mean all of those things are building blocks that can be used in conversation later. All of those things are. But if you don't ever get on the bus, you're never going to experience them. If you're not ever willing to be a little bit vulnerable, you'll never get there.

Speaker 2: 27:39

And listen to what you just said and I love the fact that you're from a big city and really I mean you're from the Houston area and you know a lot of people don't equate that to agriculture, they don't equate that to FFA. It's just another example that it doesn't matter where you're from, whether you're from far west rural Texas or you're from the big city. The key is to take advantage of the opportunities, and I think that's one of the things that you've said loud and clear is take advantage of opportunities.

Speaker 3: 28:13

Absolutely yeah, I grew up a couple miles off of NASA, so a lot of parents were rocket scientists.

Speaker 3: 28:20

That meant our area was a huge melting pot for diversity and so with all those different types of unique opportunities, again, how are we going to continue to drive forward and kind of choose which ones are going to be best for us long term? And even right next to NASA? I remember there was a longhorn program so some of the kids in my program were helping raise those long horns out there as ag, so great part overall of that city where we are.

Speaker 2: 28:48

Yeah, a lot of people don't know that that we have that FFA chapter project on NASA, which I think is great. Yeah, there's a lot there that you said. And, by the way, just from a historic point here, the reason this interview with Andy is really kind of fascinating for me and I'm glad that we're getting to share it, is not only have I got to watch him, but the time that I met Andy also met another guy named Mitchell Dale, and Mitchell Dale I'll never forget it. He's a Ford dealer. He's an owner of one of the largest Ford dealerships in the state of Texas and Mitchell came over there to the school that day that I was there and I'll never forget it. Mitchell talked about going to the FFA convention and seeing all the rock show. You know, wow, look how big this thing is. He goes. I'll never forget him.

Speaker 2: 29:41

When we talked about your chapter, he said Aaron, he goes. I was so fascinated he goes. These football players walked in and then, all of a sudden, the band kids came in and then there was somebody else that came in from drama. He said Aaron, he goes. There was okay, there were some cowboys in there. He goes, but he goes. I walked in and it was everybody from the school. And I said, mitchell, that's what this program has. It has something for everybody and everybody has something to share with this program.

Speaker 3: 30:13

Yeah, I remember those. What I love a part of that too, is some people becoming and still wearing their football uniform, still wearing their band uniform and all that. We all come from a different cloth but at the end of the day, we all go into one jacket. We all wear the exact same thing, so it doesn't matter. My background is previously when we all put on that corduroy, the blue and gold. We're all part of the same team.

Speaker 3: 30:41

I think that's so impactful as well to have that and all the conventions. When you go in, there's 10,000 people and everyone is right there. They're all wearing the same jacket and they all wear it with pride. It's even you know when the zipper's down on the jacket or it's upper, if it's something looking uncount. A lot of people take pride in that jacket. So, whether it's someone who is an act long ago or active, I would see it all the time where they would go around and say, hey, can you go ahead and please correct this? It's not part of the official dress. You want to make sure that you respect the blue and gold as well, since it's afforded so many people opportunities before them and it's going to after, I think that's incredible too, again from the backgrounds and just amazing experience absolutely.

Speaker 2: 31:30

So you know, here again I'm just going back here because this is kind of a historic moment here for us to talk briefly and we'll talk more about the Ambassador Program later but you joined our, you were part of our very first Ambassador Group, and how that came about is you know, we knew that the convention sponsors and our foundation activities were growing and we needed people to help us kind of get them around, get our guests around the conventions. And, like you said, it's kind of a big experience and I'll never forget that, that you stepped in there and you really took hold of that experience, and so much so that you stood out compared to your peers because of the way that you took on that experience.

Speaker 2: 32:19

And for those that don't know, we'll go ahead and disclose Andy Christian was really the guy that really helped us start the Ambassador Program. The idea came to us from Stacey Smith and in Mr Pruitt the late Mr Pruitt back in the day they knew that we were going to do a breakfast or a luncheon at convention and they said why don't you go get some courtesy corps kids and we'll use the courtesy corps? Well, what we found out was that we appreciated the efforts of the courtesy corps but we hadn't had a chance to train them yet. So we said we got to create a program. And that's where the Foundation ambassadors were born was. Let's create a program where we train them and then let them do the work. And Andy was one of the very first guys students to do that and also help us grow into the Junior Ambassador Program and the Senior Ambassador Program.

Speaker 2: 33:15

And, as you well know, now that thing has grown to where now we have Senior Ambassador, junior Ambassador. We even got Brand Ambassadors now and we have coordinators for the ambassadors. We got coordinators for the Brand Ambassadors, we got interns. All of that happened as a result of the seeds that you helped plant. Andy, how long ago was that, when you graduated?

Speaker 3: 33:41

A couple of years ago, 2010, was high school 2010,.

Speaker 2: 33:45

So 13 years. Wow, it's a lot of growth, a lot of opportunity, a lot of doors been made bigger because of some guy that said I'll jump in there and be vulnerable. I'll jump in there and try, and next thing you know, he's got a wife and a family and an incredible career. So you got a lot to be proud of, and I know you are Absolutely All right. Well, I tell you what we could keep talking, but I'm going to go ahead and I'm going to ask you to do one more thing here. I got two questions left for you. Give me some leadership tips, tips that you learned in high school that you still use to this day. What would be three things that you tell kids? Let me give you an example. Here's what I did in high school. Here's what I'm doing today.

Speaker 3: 34:43

Yeah, I mean, I think one of the biggest things to learn from a leadership standpoint, you have to be able to have respect in any single company, if it's a Fortune 500 or Star of Braith, you know it's like that. You join a company, you want to, you know multiple things you can look for, but you want to be able to respect that person you're working with and vice versa. It's hard to get. You only have so many times for a first impression. If you have a bad impression, it can take four to five times to remake that. So you have to make sure to continue to have items where there's opportunity for that In a big thing of respect.

Speaker 3: 35:24

I think is coming from again just having the responsibility which I learned through the Texas FFA when we didn't do our job, something died. I don't know of any other program that has that type of responsibility and I've said that in multiple interviews as well. When you say you're responsible, you say this is happening. What does that really mean? And so having that respect to be able to get down in the trenches with your team, or if you're an Elon Musk, you're having all these inventions and all that, people have a lot of respect for Elon and that's kind of regardless of how he treats it, they respect that that person is doing the right thing. That's going to drive Then from that.

Speaker 3: 36:09

From the FFA standpoint, there was a Texas monthly. There was an excerpt called the Day the Fire Came, and at the end of that I'm not going to give away the whole story, but at the end it's talking about some of the friends unfortunately passed away the guy went off to feed cattle and patched some fence in his ranch. He just said that's what you do out here you get up and you do your job. Regardless of all the tragic events that happen, you have to get up and do your job and that's responsibility.

Speaker 3: 36:48

And I think that's just one of the very key things that's needed in a leader being responsible so you can have that respect. It's critical. So outside of that, I think, definitely communication being number two. You need to be transparent. You are afraid of change. People want clearly defined goals, so they know how this success is measured. So how do we communicate with people? Just goes in so many areas that I'll kind of tie that with like a third point.

Speaker 3: 37:29

There are so many different ways of how we can communicate with others. Emotional intelligence, which is my third, is definitely going to be the third point of leadership Understanding the common thread in people were there inspired to make an impact? That can be a very different thing for an organization, for life, for your family. What does that really mean for that person? How do you have the empathy to be in their shoes and to talk to them the way they would want to understand things? Why do they want to grow? Why do they not want to do something? Inspiring someone who has lost that type of passion is one of the hardest things you can do, so you've got to make sure to be empathetic with it. Again, that emotional intelligence aspect which can change the other person. I believe the FFA taught me a lot about emotional intelligence. It gave me a lot of opportunities for that. I think it's again when you ask God for patience, he gives you opportunities to be patient. So when you want emotional intelligence, you have to go through the opportunities to be emotional intelligence.

Speaker 3: 38:47

Those are the three things I would really focus on, that is, communication and emotional intelligence.

Speaker 2: 38:54

I love it. I'm glad you talked about emotional intelligence, because we actually talked about that in the Ambassador training now. So you did good. That was really good. And the fact that you brought up Cody Crockett I appreciate that. I don't know if you know or not, but his mom and I were in FFA together back in the day. You could have knocked me over when I was at the Texas Ag Memorial Day Service and Christy Crockett walked up to me and she said you don't remember me. And I said no, man. And she said you and I used to run around the mall together in Amarillo back in the day and I said what was your name? And she said Christy Crockett and you could have knocked me over with the feather. I said you're Cody Crockett's mom and I said you have no idea how many times I've told your son's story, so I appreciate you bringing that story up.

Speaker 2: 39:47

Those that have not read it, I highly recommend reading the Day the Fires Came the Day the Fire Came in Texas Monthly. It's an incredible story. Andy, thank you so much for joining us today. I hope I really do. I hope all the kids that are listening and teachers that are listening, even sponsors and stakeholders that are listening and say this is exactly what the FFA program is about, what this man represents. I meant he's done well and the exciting thing is I don't think he's done so. I think there's more to come. With that, andy, you get one last question. Everybody gets one last fun question, and the fun question is what is the best concert you've ever been to?

Speaker 3: 40:39

It's not the question for me, man, I'm really not a music person. I've probably been to less than five concerts in my life, and that's maybe less than seven concerts. That's if you're including the concerts at the Texas FFA. I try to remember his name. There was a person who was absolutely incredible at violin, who used to play at the Texas FFA.

Speaker 2: 41:09

Really.

Speaker 3: 41:11

Yeah, I've drawn a blank on his name. But yeah, unfortunately, I'm not really a concert person, so you still have me with that one for sure.

Speaker 2: 41:21

I might have to change my game here. I might have to go what's your favorite movie? Do you have a favorite movie?

Speaker 3: 41:28

Yeah, so I've always said the Matrix. It's probably a little age back there, but I remember being my favorite because of the experiences with it. Regardless of what happened in the movie, my brothers loved it. So we would go on family trips where it was a 15, 20 hour drive, all of that, and that was one of the only things we had. So we had a little portable TV and we had a little VHS in there and I remember some of the trips we watched the Matrix 10, 15 times and we weren't watching half the time, but just having that in the background. That experience, I think, just incredible. That movie just reminds me of spending time with family.

Speaker 2: 42:11

That's great. There's another podcast, and I'll tell you which one. There's somebody else that tells a very similar story. So you did good, all right.

Speaker 2: 42:20

Well, everybody, thank you so much for joining us today. We always appreciate you tuning in and, again, having people on like Andy. They're willing to share their story, their journey, the things that they use to make their ways better, to make things better for the family, to make things better for their communities, their state and their country. I just love and appreciate people willing to share, and Andy didn't have to do this. I mean, he's a busy guy but he's like heck. I want to come on there, I want to share, I want to tell the story, because somebody else that's listening, that might be where they're at right now and they needed to hear what Andy had to say. So, just again, know how much we appreciate you.

Speaker 2: 43:08

You know we always say if you want to know what the future is, grow it. Well, if you're going to grow something, you got to plant the right seeds. So thank you for tuning in to growing our future. We hope that you found some seeds here today. We hope you put them in place in your life and until we meet again. Go out and do something great for your family, your community. Go do something great for somebody. Trust me, you'll feel good about it. Take care. Thanks, andy, thank you.

Speaker 1: 43:39

We hope you've enjoyed this episode of the Growing Our Future podcast. This show is sponsored by the Texas FFA Foundation, whose mission is to strengthen agricultural science education so students can develop their potential for personal growth, career success and leadership in a global marketplace. Learn more at mytexasffaorg.